McDonald's HR menu turns green

McDonald's senior VP and chief people officer, David Fairhurst, has been given full responsibility for the company's CSR policies, in what is thought to be a first for an HRD of a major global brand.

His new role has been live for the past month, and came after Fairhurst took to the streets, video camera in hand, to ask what people thought of McDonald's. "I found that although there is concern about the environment, people don't feel well informed about what to do," he says. "I also saw that the gulf between employees and customers could actually grow, not reduce, which was worrying."

Fairhurst says he plans to reach customers through employees, and says he sees his 67,000 staff as the most important army in both changing their own behaviours, and spreading McDonald's values wider. "When companies try to impress customers through external PR, it doesn't work; when they try to appease environmentalists it means nothing to staff or customers. My aim is to target staff to spread measures that customers can actually believe will have some environmental impact. I call it the 'sweet spot' where all stakeholders are engaged."

McDonald's has already introduced many CSR projects - such as waterless urinals that save more than 100,000 litres per day, and energy-efficient machinery. It is also piloting a waste-burning initiative to help power Sheffield Council's offices.

Influencing staff to change energy use in restaurants is Fairhurst's first aim. "We need to pick what to pioneer," he said. "One day's CSR gains - such as running our delivery fleet on biodiesel - could be nullified if an oven is left on overnight," he added. "If we encourage a sense of responsibility in staff at work, I believe this will translate to better carbon footprint awareness in their home lives too."

He adds: "My dream would be that every employee can tell a customer exactly what the environmental impact of their burger is if asked."